The old paper

This page used to be intended for my artistic endeavours, but then I realised that it’s a layout I really like, so now it’s a mashup of what previously was the “artsy” page, the “rambling” page and the “recipes” page. This way my site has three main aesthetics I really like, rather than about five that I’m mildly pleased with. In the future I’m actually considering moving everything but for the vampires page of off neocities, which would leave me with the possibility to

actually make things fully cohesive.
The general design of this page is based on "Ny Illustrerad Tidning", which as I'm realising is oddly specific since it could be literally any newspaper design. Illustrerad Tidning is a newspaper that ran from 1865 until 1900. By pure luck I found all editions from 1884 in a nice little book at a local second hand store. It's one of my most valued possessions, and has impeccable aesthetics.
I'll try to source a fair share, if not all, of the images I do not create myself for these pages from that book. So, if nothing else is stated,

everything is from there or made by me. I'm also planning on translating some of the articles from the paper and putting them here in an easy-to-read and accessible format. Partially as an archival effort, but also because there's some interesting and absurd things to read about. Topics range from art reviews to unmarried women being granted the status of full adults once they hit 25 years old, as well as that one time they poured oil on the Themes so it'd be still in a storm. History is fascinating.

The one thousand years old rose bush on the dôme in Hildesheim

Now, as in Louis the Pious's days, a grand plant can be seen climbing and blooming on the half-round chapel in the graveyard of the Hildesheim cathedral. Here, the one thousand year old rose is protected from strong winds by the grand walls of the temple.
If it was not a well-known fact that the wild rose can grow and prosper on old walls for many generations this strange bush could reasonably give wake to a lot of superstitions. There is completely credible information about its age dating back to the eleventh century. When Bishop Hezilo (died 1079) rebuilt the cathedral after a fire he ordered for the unscathed rose to be “carefully cared for, as it is a memory of bygone times”.
During the construction work the roots and branches were covered by a brick pipe [I’m not certain this is what they mean] which did leave enough room for air and light to come through and keep the rose alive, and when the tower was completed in 1120 the rose was led up its walls.
The roots lay deep below the church and the stem has grown out from under the two meters thick wall. Many people who have visited the cathedral have uttered the opinion that the church personnel ought to plant some of the shoots in order to maintain the oddity. However, the fresh shoots on old stems shows that the rose is hardy enough on its own accord.
The tale of the ancient plant goes as follows: Louis the Pious had visited the forests where Hildesheim now stands to hunt. Upon trying to cross the river he lost his horse as well as his hounds.

He had left those he traveled with, and so he blew his horn in a fruitless attempt to inform them of his whereabouts. All alone he fell to his knees to pray, and then into a deep slumber. He’d hung a holy sword he carried with him on a rose bush. When he woke, the ground was covered in snow, yet the rose had fresh blooms. If this happened in the spring or late fall this is fairly easily explained. The king, however, believed it to be a miracle, and upon the rest of his hunting party reuniting with him when he blew his horn again he declared the place where the rose grew fit for a new chapel. The bush must already have been strong, seeing as the roots did not get destroyed by the original building being built.



[Despite the cathedral being severely damaged in the second world war, the rose still stands to this day. I’m not christian, but I’ll admit this is one of few stories that makes me wonder if I ought to be. The same image that can be found in my book is also linked in the Wikipedia article, in case you want to see a higher quality version.]

Translation of: Den tusenåriga rosenbusken på dômen i Hildesheim. Illustrerad Tidning 1884-03-08

If I were a poet

I was asked about what I'd write about if I was a poet. I realised that the answer was that I probably would write about love (despite being aromantic), so I made this piece.

The zine combines drawings with some text, though it is short and sweet, so to say. The drawings are of 50s or so models and movie stars (or at least is in that general style), which is intended to illustrate that the subject matter of choice is a bit old & stale, but still pretty to look at.

The zine isn't specifically about the person who asked, to be clear.

Det måste finnas en väg ut ur det här samhället by Göran Greider

This book resonates deeply with me. It begins with a recollection of Greiders youth, and the reasons he became a socialist. While not entirely relatable to me (I was born ca 30 years after the events he speaks of), it is insightful and interests me to look at the parallels in how I ended up being a socialist. After that, he gets into the nitty gritty of the double crisis (financial and climate), which makes for an interesting read. These are things that I've studied, to some extent, as well as things that I've had a deep interest in since I was a pre-teen. His analysis is great and he brings up things I hadn't considered, as well as things I had a hard time to put into words.
Aside from the contents in and of itself I love the way that Greider writes. Reading this book reminded me that I ought to read (and write) more Swedish texts. I can tell that there is some overlap in the media we've consumed, or at least the kind of writing styles we enjoy. His style is classical in a way that a 2000s-kid (such as myself) would see it, and the way that his sentences sometimes nearly are too long really resonates with me, in case that isn't obvious. I always see that as an ache to put as much as possible information down, and it really sparks joy.

Written ??/??/23

Dream cake recipe

A cake that is fairly easy to make, and that always is appreciated by my family! Some simple modifications makes it a great yuletide treat :) The original recipe is better formatted than mine is. I reccomend it if you know swedish.

Ingredients

there are two aspects to this cake, the cake itself and the buttercream. Make sure you read through all ingredients!

Cake

• 3 eggs
• 1.5 dl sugar
• 0.75 (3/4th) dl potato flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder

Butter cream

• 100g butter
• 2d dl icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla sugar
• 1 egg yolk

Materials needed are two (or three, if you're willing to wash that many) bowls, a mixer, a baking tray, baking paper (non-stick spray doesn't work all that well from what I've seen), and a knife or spatula! You'll also need an oven.

How to cook

Begin by putting your oven to 250 degrees Celcius.

Mix the egg and sugar until it's fluffy. Seperately mix flour, cocoa and baking powder. Carefully mix the two together. Put it onto your baking paper in your baking tray. Cook in the oven for 5 minutes
(I've noticed that the top of the cake will get slightly burned. However, I just peel that off and snack on it as i make my butter cream)

For the butter cream, mix the icing sugar with the butter, until fluffy. I tend to want my butter to be soft, and as I'm impatient I melt it halfway. Mix in vanilla sugar and the egg yolk.

Flip your cake onto a sugared surface, so that one side gets coated nicely in sugar. Spread the cream onto the cake, and roll it. You'll want to roll from one of the longer ends. Let it cool before serving (or don't, I'm not your mum)

In order to make it more festive you can add cinnamon or gingerbread spices into the butter cream. For a cute look, I sometimes sprinkle icing sugar on top, and add snowflake sprinkles. Cute and delicious!

Poem of the day

Om så det skulle hända,
att ingen talar till mig alls;
vart skall jag då mig vända,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vafalls?

Jag då skall tala till-mig-själv,
och jag skall sjunga för-mig-själv,
och jag skall dansa med-mig-själv
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . en vals.

What is individual action?

We recently had a conversation about personal responsibility in regards to sustainability in class. The discussion is very relevant to us seeing as we’re studying big-scale change, but still struggled to find action that was not reliant on the actions of an individual. It got me thinking a little bit, and I found myself wondering what even differentiates individual action.
Upon consideration you’ll most likely find that no matter what you’re hoping to get done there is an individual somewhere necessary for it to happen. Even the largest companies have an individual in the lead. Large-scale change also mainly regards individual action in the end — a free train ride is only relevant because it affects multiple individuals lives. Where do we draw the line?
The simple answer may be that “individual” isn’t a question of “is it a person?”, but about power. If your action is likely to affect people on a large scale because you have power over them, it’s not an “individual action” even if it looks like it at first glance.
This manner of seeing things is less useful to analyze the starting actions of a problem than to find out what we can change to solve problems without individualizing things. If we ask individuals to stop buying electric cars, for example, that may be helpful on some level, but we’re not getting to the source of the problem. Instead, we can see who has power to do large-scale change and how we can affect those people. Say, demanding that policy makers disallow the making of new

non-electric cars. [not that they are without issue. Trust me, I know.]
Now, power relations are never just black and white. In this case, you’re most likely in some gray zone of power. Your actions may be causing ripple effects elsewhere that you are vaguely aware of. To that I say, it may be a gray zone. Power also regards the ability to make different choices. If your only option has large negative consequences you may not be the cause, but the middle man.
Furthermore, you may have the ability to cause change higher up in the pecking order. Be that by voting or other means, if you live in a democracy you are likely to have some level of say. It’s most likely very difficult, but not wholly impossible… If you don’t live in a democracy (or if you do but are tired. So, so tired…) remember that everything has a counter. The people who have a say, who aren’t doing individual actions by this definition, have a main vulnerability in the form of large amounts of co-individual action.
It is also worth clarifying that I’m not saying individual action is pointless. Far from it, I do what I can to be environmentally friendly and so forth. If nothing else it affects your life, usually in surprisingly positive ways. I do also encourage you to consider who is able to act non-individually. How can we change their minds, or alternatively, remove some of their control? Community building, grassroots activism and such are interesting to look into.
Finally, I’m not French, but…
[This is all just from my brain. Take it with a small bowl of salt]

Written 10/10/24

From my sketchbook: installment one

I mostly draw in my sketchbook, so I figured I may as well show off the things I make there, too.

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

I came across this book by complete chance as I was looking for fabrics in a local second hand shop. I thought the name ("När änglar faller" in Swedish) sounded mildly interesting, and the back of the book was nice. I was surprised to find that the book I pulled out was written by the same woman who wrote the book about the girl with the pearl earring that I read when I was about twelve. That book was a bit over my maturity level at that point, but I really did love it, so of course I bought this one too. Besides, it was just 27 kr...

Poem of the day

Oss göres inte tiden lång,
vi älskar färg och munter sång
och kärleks ömma låga
allt till vår bleka död.
Hej, Rembrandt, passa och belägg,
vi målar på din gamla vägg
vår andes ros och ranka,
Bianca, vit och röd.

Oss göres inte sorgen tung,
en målare är evigt ung
i terpentinens ånga
vid oljans blanka flod.
Ack, stanna och betänk, min vän,
och tacka sedan målaren
för allt hans trogna pensel
din slitna själ bestod.

Oss gives guld – på röda band
då penseln faller ur vår hand
och höstens ljus förtonar
på körgårns järnstaket.
Då får vi evig kondition,
att måla Herrens vita tron
och himlens röda gårdar
i kvällars salighet.

Juletider

Yule is a strange holiday to me, loaded with many emotions (mainly joy) and conflicting beliefs and traditions. I’ve celebrated it for the parts of my life I can remember,

despite living in a non-christian family, and being a pagan leaning atheist myself. However, I believe this makes some sense. I am Swedish, and our Jul is an ancient tradition, after all, that I cherish. However, so much of it is partially christian or heavily capitalist that I find myself questioning whether this tradition is something I ought to participate in, and if so how. So, let’s look backwards and inwards, to find where some of my favourite traditions come from, and what they mean to me.

Callback to last years Yuletide ponderings.

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This book really fits with my neurosises. I am a bit too keen on aesthetics, and as such it felt… almost damning. I have found myself immensely invested in how people dress and hold themselves ever since I began this particular read, and not always in a very positive way. However, it has also had a somewhat impact in making me dress better, even when I have had less energy than usual. Is that the moral of the story? No way. I saw Dorian's mental and moral decline and it seems I went “well,

it’s not like I have a painting in the attic”.

Written 13/11/24

Frode's choco cups

This is a very fast recipe based on chocolate balls! It's convenient to make if you want a small snack. Hopefully you'll like it!

Ingredients

• 30g butter
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar
• 1 dl oats
• optionally 1 tbsp of liquid, like coffee, milk or just water

Materials needed are one cup, and a microwave (or stovetop if no microwave is available)! Simple as that :)

How to cook

Melt the butter. Put all ingredients but for the oats and liquid in the butter and mix. Put the oats in, and put the liquid in if you want to. Mix again.
You're done! Hopefully you enjoy your snack!